Ventilating arch support



May 20 1924.

w. A. KIPER VENTILATING ARCH SUPPORT Filed May fifadfard l,

Patented ay 26, 12%.

" orica.

WOODFORD A. KIPER, 0F CABROLLTON, KENTUCKY.

VENTILATING ARCH SUPPORT.

Application filed May 29, 1923. Serial No. 642,251.

new and useful Improvements in Ventilating Arch Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates, to ventilating arch supports and has for -an-obj'ect toprovide a device attached to or occurring upon the bottom of shoes adapted at each step of the wearer to be collapsed to force a current of air, medicated or otherwise, into the shoe, also to be constructed of such material as to in itself support the arch under which it is located. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a hollow support secured to or occurring beneath the arch of a shoe of such proportion that it engages the ground be fore both the heel and the sole, whereby the step of the wearer is placed first upon the arch support, collapsing the support and also employing its resiliency as a support for that portion of the foot.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hollow elastic device secured below the arch of a shoe either integral with the heel or separate therefrom, having a chamber communicating with the interior of the shoe by means of a perforation through the arch. with facilities within the chamber of the arch support for maintaining medicament introduced therein to deliver the fumes or volatile ingredients through the perforation into the shoe.

With these and other objects in View, the invention comprises certain novel parts, elements, units, combinations, interactions and functions, as disclosed in the drawings, together with mechanical and functional equivalents thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a shoe provided with the present" invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view of a shoe partly in side elevation, showing the shank in longitudinal section; also the ventilating arch support in section. V

Figure 3 is atransverse sectional view through the shank of a shoe and the ventilating arch support."

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the several parts and units which make up one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 5 is an inverted perspective view of the supporting member.

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the supporting member made integral with the heel.

Like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The improved ventilating arch support' which forms the subject-matter of this invention comprises a resilient or elastic member, 10, having a chamber, 11, formed therein, secured to the under side of the shank, 12, of a shoe. with a perforation or vent, 13, through the shank of the shoe communicatingvat one end with the chamber, 11, and at the other end with the interior of the shoe and preferably, though not necessarily, produced by means of an eyelet, 14.

As will be noted especially from Figures 1, 2 and 3, this resilient or elastic member, 10, is so proportioned relative to the other parts of the shoe that it touches the ground before the heel and sole of the shoe, where by the weight f the-wearer tends to collapse the member, 10, and therefore contract the chamber, 11. Preferably this member, 10, will be composed of rubber properly vulcanized to withstand wear and to yield to the pressure of the wearer but, nevertheless, to exercise a considerable degree of support under the arch, 12, of the shoe, whereby it becomes not only a device for contracting the chamber at each step but serves also as an arch support.

In one embodiment of the invention, the member, 10, is provided with cuts, 15, in its opposite ends, as shown more particularly at Figure 4, and the frame, 16, preferably though not necessarily of metal, provided with end bars, 17, fitting into the cuts, 15, of the member, 10. Side flanges, 18, serve to clamp the member, 10, ri idly therebetween and to prevent lateral distortion. The interval between the flanges, 18, may be such that the member, v10, may be forced into position with considerable pressure, whereby it is retained rigidly. This frame, 16, is nailed, riveted, or otherwise secured beneath the shank, 12, of the shoe, preferably with an elastic gasket, 19', interposed'for the pur ose of rendering the connection water-tig t.

the heel, 21, and it is obvious that the invention is in no Way limited to the specific means for attaching the device to the shoe,

as the'integrality will 'tend to augment the attachment of the device, making it possible under some conditions to dispense with the frame, 16.

In use, the device will be secured beneath the shank of the shoe which has previously been provided with the vent in such-position that the vent is wholly covered by the chamber, 11. This chamber, 11, may or may not be first filled with the absorbent material, 20, depending upon whether thedevice is to be used for applying medicinal properties to the foot or only for ventilation. In either case, the thickness of the device relative to the interval between the shank and the ground line will'be such that at each step the resilient or elastic material of the device will be put under compression, reducing the capacity of' the chamber, 11, whereby airi or medicated air from the chamber will be forced through the vvent into the shoe.

I claim:

1. The combination with a shoe embodying a heel and a sole connected by a shank having a perforation therethrough of a resilient member secured beneath the shank having a vent therein of a ventilating support secured beneath the shank and provided with a chamber in communication with the ventcand proportioned to be 001 lapsed at each step of the wearer.

3. The combination with a shoe comprising a heel and a sole connected by a shank having a perforation therethrough of a chamber having resilient walls in communication with the perforation and having its lower limit extend downwardly below the line connecting the heel and sole.

4. A ventilating arch support comprising a resilient member having a cavity formed in itsupper side producing a chamber and means to secure the support to the under side of a shoe shank.

5. A ventilating arch support comprising a device of resilient material proportioned to be interposed between the sole and heel and secured to the under side of the shank of a greater vertical dimension than the interval of the arch, said member being provided with the chamber formed in the side adapted to be connected to the'shoe.

6. A medicating arch support comprising a resilient member having a chamber formed therein, an absorbent in the chamber and means to secure the device to the under side of a shoe previously provided with a vent therethrough.

In testimony whereof I afix my signature.

WOODFORD A. KIPER, 

